Posts Categorized: Newslink Type

NEBHE President Invites Nominations for Nat’l Reciprocity Board to Streamline Online Offerings Across States

NEBHE President & CEO Michael K. Thomas posted the following invitation for nominations to the board of the National Council on State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NCSARA) ... Dear Colleague: We invite nominations and applications for the board of the National Council on State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. As described in the final report of the Commission on the Regulation o...

Among Comings and Goings: NE HERC Names New Director; Assistant to ASU’s Crow to Head Bennington

Ruth Molina became director of  the New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (NE HERC) after eight years managing faculty and staff recruitment at Bridgewater State University. She has led the NE HERC advertising committee and served on its diversity and steering committees. Molina succeeds Jennifer Ivers, who is assistant dean for faculty development at Harvard University and will...

DC Shuttle: SCOTUS Ruling Suggests Colleges Can Continue to Use Diversity as Admissions Tool for Now; Congress May Revisit Loan Rate Debate After Recess; US Spends Most on Ed

Supreme Court affirmative action ruling. On Monday, the Supreme Court released a ruling in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The 7-1 decision was indecisive, remanding the case for reconsideration in the lower courts and directing lower courts to use "strict scrutiny" in affirmative action cases. The result of the ruling is that schools will continue to be able to use diversity ...

DC Shuttle: Teacher Quality Under Scrutiny on Capitol Hill

House committee OKs ESEA reauthorization. On Wednesday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved a proposed reauthorization to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) by a vote of 23 to 16. The bill, the Student Success Act (H.R. 5), introduced by Committee Chair John Kline (R-MN), would consolidate most federal funding into one block grant. The proposal would eliminate t...

Lowell Team Wants to Spin Peels, Algae into “Surfactants”

A team of students from the University of Massachusetts Lowell will receive up to $90,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop nontoxic, biodegradable "surfactants" from fruit peels and algae and potentially bring the invention to market. Surfactants are cleaning agents used in soaps, inks and other products to help them apply more easily to surfaces. Many surfactants ar...

DC Shuttle: Harkin Proposes Student Accountability Systems

ESEA reauthorization approved by committee. At a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) markup on Tuesday, lawmakers considered the Senate Democrats' proposal, the Strengthening America's Schools Act, to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). A bill (S. 1094) introduced by Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-IA) advanced by a party-line vote of 12-10 des...

With Population Aging, Who Will Power Economy?

The oldest U.S. states in median age are: Maine (43.5 years), Vermont (42.3 years) and New Hampshire (42 years), according to newly updated data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The three remaining New England states are up there too: Connecticut (40.5 years); Rhode Island (39.8 years) and Massachusetts (39.3 years). Nationally, the median age was 37.4 years. More than 43 million Americans are age ...

DC Shuttle: Still Wrestling with Student Loan Interest; No Child Left Behind

Student loan rates. The Senate rejected two proposals to extend low interest rates on student loans after they expire on July 1. Without legislation, interest rates will double from 3.4% to 6.8% with the expiration of the one-year fix put in place last summer. Movement to proceed with a Senate Democratic bill (S. 953) to extend the current 3.4% fixed interest rate for two additional years was reje...

Learning Channels: WGBH Creates a Higher Ed Desk

WGBH Boston is creating a Higher Ed Desk to help enrich its award-winning radio, television and online stories with angles from Boston and New England's famed postsecondary education. America’s largest producer of PBS content for TV and the web, WGBH hired Vermont Public Radio's Kirk Carapezza as managing editor and lead correspondent of the Higher Ed Desk. The desk is supported through m...

Among Comings and Goings, Roxbury CC Changes at the Top

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved Valerie R. Roberson, currently vice president for academic affairs at Joliet Junior College in Illinois and former president of Olive-Harvey College, to be the 15th president of Roxbury Community College, effective July 22. A March report requested by trustees showed systematic lapses over the past decade by administrators at the college. Rober...